Alice Academy: A Kaleidoscope
by Fourplay
Summary: A collection of short stories ranging from humorous to tragic, each taking place in or somehow related to Alice Academy. [COMPLETE]
1. Stars

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Gakuen Alice.

The subject of this collection is Alice Academy, and I wish to have the liberty of exploring the possibilities presented by this particular setting. This being said, most chapters, if not all, will feature nameless characters. Each of them will have a different alice, and will be living in a period different from others. With this, I hope to show a comprehensive view of Alice Academy and the role it plays in the lives of its students and faculty.

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**Alice Academy: A Kaleidoscope**

A collection of short stories ranging from humorous to tragic,  
each taking place in or somehow related to Alice Academy.

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**Stars**

She is not cynical, but certainly not romantic. She's just realistic, and the last thing she wants to believe is that the stars have something to do with her life.

"Idiots," she hisses under her breath, watching as the girls in her class fawn over the dozen bouquets of roses that have been sent to their homeroom one early morning in April. The colorful flowers are in full bloom, and the staggering number is enough to leave any girl blushing and out of breath.

_Not me, _ she thinks, just as she sees the young man who sent them step inside the room. "You're still not forgiven," she snaps in a strong, stubborn voice.

The young man only smiles. "I love you, too," he says, and to her disgust it makes everyone in her class gush with excitement.

"I'll kill you later," she mutters, cheeks flaring deep crimson as she does. Before he can do anything to embarrass her further, she's already dragging him outside the classroom and lecturing him about his stupidity.

She is not cynical, but certainly not romantic. She's just realistic, and the last thing she wants to believe is that the stars have something to do with her life.

But maybe, just this one time, she'll thank her stars for giving her an alice and allowing her to meet her idiot.

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_**end**_

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**Hilaire | 04.24.13**


	2. Memory

**Memory**

She doesn't know why, but she averts her eyes from the head florists' on their brief meeting for her wedding. She has never seen or heard of him prior to that day, so she doesn't understand why the sight of him fills her with dread, or why her heart beats so fast when she's under his solemn gaze.

"Wouldn't you want to get married someday, too?" she asks in the middle of their conversation – an attempt to make the atmosphere lighter and slow down her erratic heartbeat.

The young man looks up at her, the corners of his lips curving up in a cynical, defeated smile. "When my life is mine and I'm less of a fool, I will," he says, cryptically.

With these words, he hands her a white rose in full bloom, which the young woman accepts, wondering why there's a pang in her chest as she holds the flower in her hands.

_Someday, when I can stay in your memory and I'm not foolish enough to let you go, let's meet again._

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_**end**_

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**Hilaire | 04.25.13**


	3. Witch

**Prompt: **A girl who has foresight when she comes into skin contact with anyone and how it affects herself and others.

This turned out better more interesting than I thought it would. :)

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**Witch**

**I.**

_1459, Europe._

"Burn the witch! Burn the witch! Burn the witch!"

Inside the tower where the most wanted criminals are locked away, the suspect for the death of the kingdom's emperor lies on the cold stone floor. Her long, curly hair is spilled around her in a messy cascade, the scent of blood from the wound in her head thick and heavy in the air.

_"I'm innocent," _ she whispers, staring at the small gap on the stone walls high above her lying form – her only window to the world that have shunned her for who she is and what she can do. It is the light from this gap which keeps her breathing and clinging to the last semblance of sanity and reason remaining in her mind – a constant reminder that perhaps, even just a little, there is still light and hope if she doesn't let go.

But sometimes, during times like this, it's hard to keep her weak resolve from faltering. Regardless what is true, she can hear the people's protests against her continued existence and screams for her death, those anguished cries of indignation and sorrow and fear.

(They are sad for the death of their prized monarch, but even greater than that is their fear of her – the young mistress of the emperor whom they have always abhorred for the power she wields, and whom they now label as witch.)

She turns her head to look at her outstretched arms, a small shiver of horror and despair running through her small form when she realizes she can no longer feel anything, even when she flexes her fingers. She is too numb, paralyzed by the exhaustion of both her mind and body.

( – and perhaps even her soul, if someone who is supposed to be a witch can ever have one.)

She tips back her chin when she feels her stomach twist, and tastes the mixture of tears and blood in her mouth when she swallows. Her lungs are on fire, her vision is getting hazier by the second, and the wounds they left when they tortured her with the metal whip are still bleeding without end.

_But I'm innocent…! _ she thinks desperately to herself, unable to stop her tears when she hears the metal door to her chamber open. She tries to look up, knowing that the only one permitted to see her now will be the person in charge of overseeing her death by burning.

"It is time," the executioner says, the words sounding cold and cruel and final from his lips.

The young woman whimpers and bites her lip until it, too, bleeds, and wonders how something as beautiful as love can bring about something as ugly and vile as death.**  
**

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_**to be continued.**_

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**Hilaire | 04.26.13**


	4. Future

This is the continuation of the previous one. :)

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**Future**

**II.**

_1458, Europe._

The emperor is an eccentric man whom everyone adores for his kindness and wisdom. At the age of twenty-two he still admits to being a fool, but already his eyes show cunning beyond his years – the strange invention of many tragedies that he has witnessed ever since he was a child.

"The girl who can tell the future," he says one morning, with a curious smile on his lips, much like a child seeking amusement. "Ask her to grace the banquet with her presence."

And so while the kingdom loathes the sight of her, no one can dispute the request of the next emperor. On the evening of his twenty-third birthday, while everyone from the richest to the poorest is busy with merrymaking, the girl who has been cast away steps into the palace, her dark, heavy clothes contradicting the light atmosphere around her.

_(She wishes she can kill them all, these people who mock her and have made her life a living hell. But that is something even she cannot do, and so she humors the invitation if only to see them tremble in her presence.)_

She stops in front of the throne, curtsying in front of the next lord of the land. "May I inquire for what reason His Highness has summoned me?" she asks, her voice quiet and reserved underneath the cloak she is wearing.

There is an amused chuckle, the sound echoing throughout the suddenly hushed halls of the palace. "I am told you can foretell the future," the next emperor says. "I wish to know what lies ahead of me, and of this kingdom I will soon inherit."

The girl lowers her head, only her pale lips visible underneath her thick hood. "To know the future is not a privilege, but a curse. I have seen it destroy the strongest of men – "

"I have thought about it, and I still wish to know. Uncertainty has never fancied me. It is too dreadful, too worrisome," he says, rising from his throne to walk over to the soothsayer.

There is an amused laughter, and for a few seconds the rest of the kingdom is still, realizing that this is coming from the very girl they have exiled from the rest of humanity. "There is no changing fate. Even with the knowledge of what will happen next, you remain an actor with a chosen role to play, or a spectator, who can only watch as the world continues forward, with or without you – "

"That's enough!" the man orders, stopping in front of the girl. "Tell me what future you see, and I shall grant you anything that you wish."

The soothsayer is silent, her hunched form unmoving even when the sovereign is standing right in front of her. "…anything?" she inquires, after a long, heavy pause.

_(She learned, when she seven years old, that wishes upon the stars never come true.)_

He scoffs at the question, unimpressed. "Like everyone, you have a price," he practically spits, and waves a hand dismissively. "But yes. I shall grant you anything you desire. Absolutely anything, as long as it is within my power."

An eerie silence rules over the hall, until at last the girl lifts a pale hand, capturing the man's in hers. Around them, the guards start, but the next emperor only shakes his head, mesmerized by the girl and her soft touch, and almost willing for the moment to never end.

"What do you see?" he murmurs, feeling his heartbeat slightly pick up.

The girl lifts her head, a beautiful pair of mismatched blue and violet meeting his astonished greens. "Death," she whispers, her grip on his hand tightening as she lifts her hood, revealing a pale, pretty face framed by dark curly locks. "Life is the price you pay for your own ambition."

The hall erupts with panicked murmurs, the common people unable to do anything but watch in horror as the mysterious soothsayer keeps the next monarch in her grip. The guards themselves are frozen, unsure what to do next, unwilling for the member of the royalty to come to harm, but even more disinclined to go against his orders.

The girl looks around them, watching everyone step back from her mere gaze. She reaches up to her mismatched pair of eyes, and smiles a smile that lacks both light and mirth. "One year from now," she starts, her voice loud and clear enough for everyone to hear, "in an evening as blissful tonight, the emperor will lose his life, and the kingdom will be thrown into chaos we have never seen before."

She looks back at him, as if challenging him. "I hope you are prepared for that."

With this, the girl lets go of his hand and puts the hood over her head. She curtsies, haughtily, but before she has the chance to take her leave, the guards are upon her, obstructing her way to the massive double doors leading outside.

Once again the room is filled with exclamations of alarm, but with a wave of his hand the man silences everyone. He steps to the girl he has called for, and says, plainly: "I have yet to grant your wish."

The girl twirls on her heel, incredulous. "Didn't you hear me? In twelve months you are to die."

"It doesn't make it all right for me to break my promise, does it?" the man says, amidst the vicious reaction from the people around them. "If one year from now, death comes upon me, at least let me take comfort in the fact that I granted the wish of a person whom everyone else would rather have dead."

The girl scoffs. "You are doing this only for yourself."

"Everyone does things for themselves. Self-sacrifice is a little too glorified, in my opinion." He smiles, a smile that everyone in that particular banquet will forever remember as true and genuine. "Now: Tell me what you wish for."

The girl takes off her hood, narrowing her eyes at the next lord of the land as she contemplates her words. "A place beside you," she declares, paying no mind to how ridiculous her request must sound. But if the next emperor will truly grant her her wish, then there can't be any harm in asking for what she truly desires.

_(I am too tired, and it is too lonely being alone.)_

"I wish to be right next to you, from this moment until the time you breathe your last."

The man's eyes widen, obviously not expecting that answer. In a split second of arrogance, the girl smirks, knowing that there is no one foolish enough to grant her wish –

_(after all no one wants the companionship of the damned, and she has always known she is bound to spend her eternity in solitude)_

– but to her surprise he only shrugs, and holds her hand out to him.

"Come. Your wish is granted."

It is in that moment, for the first time in her thirteen years, that the girl remembers having the desire to change the future.

* * *

_**to be continued.**_

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**Hilaire | 04.27.13**


	5. Eyes

Continuation.

* * *

**Eyes**

**III. **

_6 months later._

The girl wakes up to find the now Emperor stroking her hair, looking so engrossed in his motion that he barely notices her stir. "Why are you still here?" she whispers, rubbing her eyes as she tries to drive away her sleepiness. This man should no longer be in bed beside her – not when he is already the ruler of this land.

"I was waiting for you to wake up," he says, smiling at her. "I wanted to look at you before I start my day."

She blinks, her cheeks flushing scarlet as she looks away. "That's silly," she mutters, and pauses when he traces the contours of her face with his fingers. "D-don't…"

"You have the most fascinating eyes I've ever seen," he tells her, his dark browns boring into mismatched blue and violet. "Blue like the ocean, and violet like my favorite flowers."

She smirks at this, holding his wrist in her small hands. "Do you know what you are talking about? These eyes are my curse," she tells him, a bitter smile taking its place on her lips. Sometimes she hates him for talking about something so dreadful so early in the morning. "This is the reason why my village sent me away, and the reason I've been living the way I was before you invited me to the celebration of your birthday."

He looks at her earnestly. "Does it still bother you that much?"

She gazes at him sharply, sitting on the edge of the bed impatiently. "Yes."

The Emperor only shakes his head, and reaches out for her. "But that's all in the past now," he says, kissing her forehead as he holds her close. "I love all of you, and that's all that should matter."

The girl bites her lip as she nestles against his chest, and wonders how the damned like herself can have someone so kind.

* * *

_**to be continued.**_

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**Hilaire | 05.05.13**


	6. Believe

Continuation.

* * *

**Believe**

**IV. **

"The Emperor is dead! Kill that witch!"

The girl lets the guards cover her eyes with a dark cloth, inhaling deeply once she feels them lead her out of the tower. With slow, careful steps, they tread the cold, stone ground, the voices of the furious citizens of this small country reaching them not too far off.

It doesn't take long for the girl to reach the place where she is to be put to death. The executioner holds her by the wrist, and orders her to step forward to where the ropes were.

"KILL THE WITCH!"

The girl inhales, her blindfolded eyes drenched in tears, and speaks up. "I am innocent," she says briefly, which earns her jeers and mockery from the watching public.

"You are a liar! A witch!"

_"What they believe doesn't matter," _ the girl remembers the Emperor tell her many times before. And just before the ax finally takes her life away, she utters a silent word of gratitude for the eyes she loathed, and for the man who chose to accept her despite this curse.

_In another lifetime, when the world is less cruel, perhaps, we can meet again. _

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_**end.**_

* * *

**Hilaire | 05.25.13**


	7. Fire

:D

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**Fire**

Today is a glorious, glorious evening.

_Perfect for a radical change, _ the young boy thinks, his pallid face illuminating the dancing flames that consumed his village and its people. A pair of dark blue eyes casts a glance at his hands, and in some detached part of his mind he wonders if perhaps there is something wrong with him –

Because he feels neither fear nor remorse, not even guilt – but instead the faintest hint of amusement and glee, like finally the dreadful days of nothingness have ended, and at last he's alive, in the truest sense of the word.

_The price of living is death._

Somewhere on the other side of the world, inside a cold room where vicious men and women gather to decide the fate of another, there is an order.

"Bring that alice to us."

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_**end.**_

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**Hilaire | 05.26.13**


	8. Water

Alice of water. :D

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**Water**

_The Ocean is a traitor._

The best swimmer in Class A only snorts, adjusting her goggles as she waits for the sound of the gunshot. "She's just jealous," she mumbles under her breath, a cruel smirk forming her lips as she starts to swim. _She's just jealous because I'm better than she can ever be._

From the shore, a smaller girl watches the competition continue, blank eyes surveying the excited faces of parents and students surrounding the area. "Don't say I didn't warn you," she sings, before she turns on her heel to walk back to the hotel.

It's on the exact moment that the smaller girl turns the key to her room that the sounds of panicked screaming echo throughout the beach. "SOMEONE'S DROWNING!"

The little girl closes the door behind her, a bland smile on her lips. "I told you, didn't I?" she breathes, her voice barely above a whisper.

"The Ocean is a traitor."**  
**

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_**end.**_

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**Hilaire | 05.26.13**


	9. Mirror

:D

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**Mirror**

"Let me out!" the girl screams, pounding on the glass wall as the darkness swiftly envelopes her. "Let me out! Please!"

The girl outside looks into the flat cage, blue eyes wide and a little out of focus, before at last they find the eyes equally as blue of the girl inside. She tips her head, allowing herself a small smile. "Let you out?" she singsongs, lightly.

The girl inside – the perfect mirror of the girl outside – pummels the glass desperately, her features twisted by terror. "You're my reflection! You shouldn't be outside!"

The reflection lifts an eyebrow, eyes lighting up as if to underscore the gap between the genuine and itself. "Reflection?" she echoes, before peering close into the glass so that playful blues met their horrified mirror pair, and she smiles.

"_You _ are my reflection now."**  
**

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_**end.**_

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**Hilaire | 05.26.13**


	10. Home

The last of the bunch.

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**Home**

When he was younger, and before the orphanage that used to be his sanctuary was burned to the ground by an underground organization he would later know to be Anti-Alice Organization, he yearned for a perfect idea of a home.

He wanted a place he could call his own – a place with people just like him, and where no one would judge him for being himself.

It was, therefore, of no surprise to anyone when he jumped at the opportunity to sign up for Alice Academy. It was the school for the gifted, an institution that looked after those that were given uncanny abilities beyond human comprehension.

_This is a place you can call your home, _ they told him.

It would take only a few years, however, before the boy would realize that everything was a lie.**  
**

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_**end.**_

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This collection is complete. Thank you for reading. :)

**Hilaire | 05.26.13**


End file.
